Sponsors

Workshops

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!

Workshop cost is $50 per student for each 4-hour Master Class and $25 per student for each 2-hour class.

In the event that a class sells out, you'll be able to purchase an audit ticket that will allow you to sit and watch the class but not participate. Audit tickets will be sold at The Hideout Theatre 10 minutes before the posted start time of the workshop and will cost $20. Please bring cash.

Particulars

There is a maximum of 14 students in each class.

Workshops will be open to anyone, but it is recommended that students have some improv experience.

Registration closes at 11pm on Thursday, September 2.

On the day of the class, students can register in person with cash or check if the class limit has not been met.

Students can register using our online purchasing site just like show tickets.

A student's spot in a workshop is forfeited if they are more than 10 minutes late to class.

Anyone on the waiting list will be able to take this spot. Additionally, any student who is a no-show will not be refunded their class fees.

Scholarship

There is one class and show scholarship available for this year's festival. The winner of said scholarship will get a full ride to all classes and an ALL SHOWS pass. That's, like, a $300 value or something. Entries are due August 14, 2010.

FRIDAY September 3

Do Something Else
Jeff Griggs (Aphasia)
Noon - 4pm
Hideout Upstairs

Playing the same characters? Doing the same tricks in your scenes? Need to improve your improv to become a more complete improviser?

"Do Something Else" is a workshop designed to get you out of your comfort zone and build your confidence in trying new things. You'll never know unless you try, and this workshop will make you try. And if you haven't been in a classroom setting in awhile, this class is a nice refresher for veterans looking to juice up their improv.

Jeff Griggs

is the author of the book Guru: My Days with Del Close. He teaches and coaches at iO in Chicago, where he performs in The Armando Diaz Experience and with the Harold team Deep Schwa. He currently performs for Second City onboard a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship. He also performs with his three-person team Aphasia at venues and festivals around the country. He has taught at festivals and theaters in Toronto, Chicago, Chapel Hill, Hawaii, Tokyo, Dallas, Seattle, and elswhere. He was the story producer and a contributing director for the improvisation-based television program Sports Action Team and hosts the popular podcast Aphasia Presents Something with his Aphasia teammates Brett and Jeannie.

It's said that the three most important things in real estate are location, location, location. In comedy, the three most important things are emotion, emotion, and emotion. Often, people are drawn to comedy because it's a natural defense mechanism against feeling emotion. Trouble is, to be an engaging comedian you must know how to show and use a wide range of emotions in your scenes.

In "Emotion, Emotion, Emotion," students will practice a variety of techniques to create characters with emotional points of view. Students will learn what emotions they play easily and what emotions cause stumbling blocks in their scenework.

Stacey Hallal

has been performing, teaching, and directing improv and sketch comedy in Portland and Chicago over the past ten years and has appeared and taught at more than 25 comedy festivals across the United States and Canada. While in Chicago, Stacey completed programs of study at the iO Chicago, Annoyance, and Second City training centers. She went on to complete the prestigious Directing Program at Second City, where she also taught improv and writing to adults and kids as a member of the Second City Training Faculty. Stacey was assistant director of the smash hit Second City mainstage production Between Barack and A Hard Place. In Portland Stacey was a member of the critically acclaimed comedy duo All Jane No Dick and debuted her one-woman show The Humperdink Family Reunion to rave reviews. Stacey uses improv to help corporations better understand and tell their brand stories with Character, LLC, a Portland-based company she helped start up in 2001.

Do you find that your characters are all the same person, maybe with different accents? Or are you comfortable with a few character traits that you know work? It’s time to expand that repertoire.

This intensive workshop will help you use your body to create characters that can be fully realized physically and emotionally. Using both interior techniques (intellectual and mental stimulus) and exterior techniques (physical restrictions), you'll learn to create REAL people who audiences will adore. The chief objective of the class is to give players a set of shortcuts and practices to quickly find, create, and sustain characters.

Andrew McMasters

received his MFA in theater from the University of Washington and works as a professional actor all over the country. His physical training in the Suzuki method gives him a unique approach to physical work outside of the normal improv experience. He is the founder and artistic director of Wing-It Productions and the executive producer of The Seattle Festival of Improvisational Theater, and has a dog named Kuma.

Zenprov from Amsterdam
Rod Ben Zeev
4 - 6pm
Hideout Upstairs

Finding flow in scenes is difficult. When you have it, it's the most powerful feeling in the world, everything you say and do works. It's the one thing I aspire to in any show I do. But it's not easy to reach. How many times have you had non scene related thoughts while playing the scene from "Hey, I think that's my neighbor's girlfriend in the second row" to "I'm gonna avoid doing a scene with that guy cause we don't click"? While it is possible to multi task, your body language might be telling a different story and your actions are no longer believable and congruent to what is spoken. Aside from that, you are probably enjoying the performance a lot less, questioning your instincts and are working really hard to catch up.
In this workshop we learn how to connect the body language with the spoken text in scenes using meditation. The meditational excersizes are inspired by NBA coach Phil Jackson's meditational techniques which he uses before basketball games. This workshop is open to anyone who has experienced those "out of scene" thoughts and is looking for ways to improve their on stage believability. No meditational experience necessary, just an open mind.

Rod Ben Zeev

Rod Ben Zeev has been performing, directing and teaching impro for over ten years on four continents in three languages to audiences aged 5 to 95. In 2002 he began a program at Hyatt Classic Residence in Chicago teaching and performing with senior citizens. The final show was performed at the Chicago Improv Festival in 2003 and the program keeps on running nationally. In 2005 he traveled Europe with Boom Chicago doing corporate shows for unsuspecting companies and in 2006 founded the Dutch impro group DIT. He has performed in the last two International Impro Festivals in Amsterdam and the San Francisco Improv Festival and is a regular guest performer at Improline in Tel Aviv. Rod also writes for television. In 2004 he wrote 65 episodes of a children's history show titled Amazing History for Rai in Italy and is currently writing 26 episodes of the Greek sitcom to be broadcast starting in October. A pretty incredible feat considering Rod does not speak Italian or Greek.

SATURDAY September 4

Improv for Humans, Not Robots

Eric Hunicutt (The Reckoning)
Noon - 4pm
Hideout Upstairs

Having a difficult time being clever onstage? Stuck in your head trying to figure out how to get your scene "right"? Try being honest and real. Instead of trying to play a fairly convincing human, be human.

This workshop focuses on being truthful in your experience onstage -- listening and responding honestly to yourself and your partner, recognizing your instincts and using them, playing with power, and being present. We will explore ways of bringing more of yourself to your characters, getting more from your scene partner, and playing each scene to its full potential. Once you play this way you may never want to go back to standing on stage and saying witty things.

Eric Hunicutt

is a member of The Reckoning and has been studying, performing, and teaching improvisation and acting for over 18 years. Currently, Eric lives in Los Angeles, where he is a working actor, director, and teacher and performs regularly at iO West as well as in film, television, and scripted theater. Eric is a faculty member at Steppenwolf Classes West, iO West (where he served as the director of training for four years), Warner Loughlin Studios, The American Academy of Dramatic Art, and Cal State University Summer Arts. Recent directing credits include shows at The Upright Citizens Brigade (NY & LA), The Second City (LA), iO West, and The Comedy Central Stage.

Dr. Cacky's Improv Cleansing

Craig Cackowski (Dasariski)
Noon - 4pm
Hideout Classroom

Is your scenework tired and sluggish? Are you falling back on the same tired choices and characters you always make? Do you need to get back to basics and be playful and strong again? If so, Dr. Cacky's Improv Cleansing is for you. He'll give you the improv equivalent of a high colonic, flushing the toxins of insecurity and indecision out of your system. You'll also receive some personalized feedback via e-mail.

Craig Cackowski

has performed, taught, coached and directed at the iO Chicago and iO West theaters since 1992. While in Chicago, he opened five revues on the Second City Mainstage and ETC and was involved with such groundbreaking improvised shows as Close Quarters, JTS Brown, Grunt, and Frank Booth in the Blue Velvet Lounge. He can be seen regularly in Los Angeles in Dasariski and The Armando Show. Film and TV appearances include Community, Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Year of the Dog.

Just the Facts: Advanced Scenework Fundamentals

Dave Hill (iO West and King Ten)
4pm - 6pm
Hideout Upstairs

Do you find yourself lost in improv scenes? Not sure which pieces of information are important and which aren't? Tired of ending your scenes grasping for anything and leaving scenes feeling like they were about nothing? "Just the Facts" will help you develop the ability to zero in on what is most important in your scenes so that you can enjoy the fun that is possible in each scene.

Dave Hill

has been teaching and coaching improv for the past 8 years at both the iO Chicago and iO West Theaters. He has taught every level of the iO Training Center in addition to multiple workshops that he has designed himself over the past several years. In addition he has taught at multiple festivals around the country including The Phoenix Improv Fest (2007, 2009), The Chicago Improv Fest (2007) and The Los Angeles Improv Fest (2007-2010). He has also been the guest director of the Village Theater in Atlanta for the past year, leading multiple workshops tailored to that group and the local improv community. He has been nominated for "Teacher of the Year" in the iO West Del Close Awards four years running . He has lost every time to Craig Cackowski and he is very much fine with that.

SUNDAY September 5

Fight or F*ck

Frank Caeti (of FrankenMatt)
Noon - 4pm
Hideout Upstairs

As human beings we are all capable of a diverse range of emotions, yet often our improv scenes are driven by either anger or lust. We are compelled to fill the scene with words and become uncomfortable with vulnerability and silence, but sometimes what we don't say is more important than what we say. Making strong acting choices that are informed by subtext and intention can create richer scenes. In this workshop we will focus on making honest, real choices that ground the improviser to the emotional reality of the scene.

Frank Caeti

has taught and performed improvisation for more than ten years. As a performer, his credits include MADtv, The Second City Chicago (resident company alum), iO Chicago, Reno 911, iO West, UCB, Just for Laughs Montreal, and CSz Chicago. He is also one half of the duo FrankenMatt and is currently a faculty member at The Second City Hollywood. Frank has taught improv for ComedySportz and Second City in Chicago and SC Las Vegas and has led workshops in many cities, including Denver, Seattle, Charleston, Dallas, and Beijing, China.

Musical Improv

Stephen Wilder (of Hit and Run)
Noon - 2pm
Hideout Classroom

Ever wanted to try your hand at improvising songs? Let's do it! In this workshop, which is open to performers of all musical and improvisational skill levels, we'll be exploring the fundamentals of musical improv and improvised songs, and you are guaranteed to have a GREAT time doing it. Even if you've never made up a song before, by the end of this workshop, you'll be belting like a pro!

Stephen Wilder

has been performing improvised musicals for the past five years. He has performed with and studied under Michael Pollock, the musical director of Second City Los Angeles and the premier improv accompanist in the country, and Shulie Cowen, the founder and director of Opening Night: The Improvised Musical in Hollywood. His musical improv team, Hit and Run: Musical Improv, has expanded to two separate casts that perform regularly in LA and Denver.

Free-Form Improvisation: ImprovBoston Style

Will Luera (ImprovBoston)
2pm - 4pm
Hideout Classroom

This workshop explores the makings of the unique style of the ImprovBoston Mainstage. The format of our show follows the concept that every moment in a show can be deconstructed and can lead to another scene all while following the funny and where the show wants to take you. We'll review the tools that will enable you to create a unique free-form performing experience every time you hit the stage. We will review ideas of listening to what the show wants, what can be funny, when are the best times to edit and how to edit the scene.

Will Luera

is the artistic director of ImprovBoston, artistic director of the Lowell Comedy Festival and artistic associate of the Chicago Improv Festival. In 2004, Will was the Boston and national winner of PAX-TVs World Cup Comedy. Will is also a producer and actor in Strange Faculty, which was accepted to the 2007 New York Television Festival and the 2008 Los Angeles Independent Television Festival and was the winner of the 2008 NBC Comedy Short Cuts competition.

Truth & Beauty

Jill Bernard (Drum Machine and SWITCH)
4pm - 6pm
Hideout Upstairs

In this workshop, Jill Bernard will take you through a series of exercises that will inject your work with a little bit of truth and beauty. The ability to create improv that is honest and vulnerable adds another layer to your work, a little bit of cake underneath your frosting that will take your work from light entertainment to something with resonance. Please wear closed-toe shoes to this workshop.

Jill Bernard

has been performing with ComedySportz-Twin Cities since 1993 and is a founding member of HUGE Theater. Her one-woman improv piece Drum Machine has been featured at the Chicago Improv Festival, the Toronto Improv Jamboree, the Miami Improv Festival, Philadelphia Improv Festival, and the ComedySportz National Tournament, among others. She has taught and performed improv in Norway, Canada, and over thirty of these United States, in cities that include Juneau, AK; Spokane and Seattle, WA; Washington DC; Bowling Green, KY; Phoenix, AZ . . . and also on an episode of MTV's “Made.”

MONDAY September 6

Improv Diagnosis

Matt Craig (of FrankenMatt)
Noon - 4pm
Hideout Upstairs

Discover what type of improviser you are using a simplified structure that will enable you to approach scenework in a whole new way. In this comprehensive workshop, we will categorize your strengths and weaknesses in a method that I have been developing for more than ten years. You will leave this workshop able to identify yourself as either a proactive or reactive improviser, and to know why. You'll be able to take away the positive and negative implications of both. After this workshop, participants will be able to pinpoint their strengths as an improviser, but also determine their weaknesses so that all who take it will become fully-rounded, unstoppable, improvising juggernauts.

Matt Craig

began his career at Washington University with the troupe Mama's Pot Roast. Previous theater credits include The Annoyance, iO Chicago, iOWest, Disney Cruise Lines, Brave New Workshop, The Second City Touring Company, The Second City ETC, and The Second City Mainstage. Recent television credits include According To Jim and The Office. He is a member of the faculty at the Second City Training Center in Los Angeles and has taught for the Second City Conservatory in Chicago for five years and the Brave New Institute in Minneapolis, in addition to teaching workshops all over the United States. He currently works for Norwegian Cruise Lines writing and directing sketch comedy that is performed all over the world. Matt is pleased to be making his first-ever appearance at Austin's Out of Bounds. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his lovely wife Rebecca and his baby daughter Phoebe.

Middle Eastern Improv

Three Falling loves extreme situations, sharp characters, and rapid pace changes. They strive to find the truth in IT! . . . yet it's not always easy. Middle Eastern Improv is a workshop for intermediate and advanced players that explores truth in characters and the ability to change in a believable way. Participants will play several characters in one scene and explore transitions between them. It'll be hot, loud and passionate…

Muli Shulman

is a 2000 graduate of the Nisan Nativ Acting Studio in Tel Aviv. Since then he has been performing in repertory and fringe theatre throughout Israel. He works with animation and as a dubber, voice director, and translator. He is currently directing Mr. Kolpert by David Giessselman at TMUNA theatre in Tel Aviv, as part of the "German Season." Muli has performed with various improv groups in Israel and abroad since 2001.

Inbal Lori

graduated from Jerusalem Art High School in 1994 and Nisan Nativ Acting Studio in 2000. Since then she has been writing for television, theatre, and films. She has taken part in many fringe groups and one-woman shows. These days she is also giving improv and acting workshops, and won a scholarship for playwriting at the American Israeli Foundation. Inbal won "Best Performer" in 2008 at the Israeli Fringe Festival for her one-woman show, The Woman I Could Have Been.